1878–1879
oil on canvas
147 x 299

Vereshchagin was a direct participant of the events of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 in the Balkans. He has depicted the triumph of Russian troops after the storming of the Shipka Crossing on 28 December 1877. However, the war’s hero General M.D. Skobelev is depicted as a hardly noticeable figure somewhere at the edge while the triumphant troops merge into a faceless gray mass. In the foreground we see the corpses of those killed (Russian and Turks), presented with cruel accuracy. The artist strives to strip away the aura of Romance from the battle painting. His main theme is the unmasking of the “great injustice called war.” The artist’s younger brother Sergei died in the Balkans. He was an adjutant to General Skobelev and a talented draughtsman. A number of figures, including Skobelev (on a white horse) and the artist himself (with the banner, on a chestnut horse) are done in portrait manner.

at 10, Lavrushinsky Lane, Hall 27